Author’s Noter-As stated in other reflections, I’ve decided to take a page from Michael Moorcock and let the reflections pretty much stand as written. Adding any new thoughts in the Author’s Notes before or after. The Prydain series was my fantasy series, read before The Lord of the Rings etc. It not only solidified my love for the fantasy genre but also my love for the work of Don Maitz.
When I pulled up the cover to post here, I instantly recognized as a Maitz cover making it the first Maitz that I ever saw. I hadn’t realized my relationship with his art went that far back. So here are my thoughts on The Book of Three with a little introduction.
The Wonder Years- Tales of My Youth
Reflections by M J Moran
This is the section of reflections hitting on those books that appealed to the younger me and kept me enthralled. There are some works that get separated out since they were more of my crossing into the adult world- Philip Jose Farmer, Michael Moorcock, even Edgar Rice Burroughs.
A story that I share at times is my mom getting a phone call from the county librarian, telling her that I’m going into the adult section of the library to check out books. Little background, it was 1970, I was 10 and the librarian was also a friend of the family (something I was not aware of at the time). Why was I going to the adult part of the library? Quite simple, I had mined the fantasy and science fiction books of the children’s section and was looking for more.
This is my visit back to the world of the Young Adult section before crossing over into the adult section of the world. Most of these were read while I was young but some were read as an adult but I feel their place is here. More often than not they are stories about coming of age, into one’s being and some end up being the tales after that has occurred. As a friend put in an article recently- I’m looking at you, David Eddings.
In the Beginning there was Prydain
A reflection by M.J. Moran
The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
This was not the first science fiction/fantasy book I was exposed to but it was the one that stuck with me. The first was most likely Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. I had been reading mythology and folk stories for a while in between devouring any comics I could come across. It was in 5th grade that The Book of Three was read to us and I was mesmerized. I was also sick at the end of the tale along with some other reason for missing bits and pieces. My reading level was above my classmates so I took a trip to the library to fill in the missing pieces.
I have probably read the story 2 or 3 times in my life but will confess that the last time was in my drinking days. So revisiting the work was like putting on an old familiar coat and then finding you had put stuff in the pockets.
This is the first book in a 5 book series with a short story anthology being published later. We are introduced to an assistant pig-keeper- Taran and quickly realize this is his story. His main job is to take care of an oracle pig, Hen Wen. So when Hen Wen flies the coop following the chickens of Taran’s home of Caer Dallbyn, he pursues her and the adventure begins. This is an introductory tale setting the players in place for the subsequent books. Enough so that when Disney made an animated feature film they jumped straight to the second book- The Black Cauldron. I say that as an adult and don’t mean to take away anything from the first book. In it we meet Eilonwy, Fflewddur Fflam, Gurgi and Prince Gwydion on the side of good and Arawn, Archen and the Horned King on the evil side.
The story follows the hero’s quest. Taran is displaced from home and given a task. He gathers up companions to help him on his quest. Eventually the task is completed with Taran returning home both having appreciation of home and having the realization that the world is a lot bigger than Caer Dallben. Alexander handles this well and as I’ve said enthralled me when reading the book.
Looking at it from the adult side, it has its flaws. The ending is a little too contrived for the adult me, but I was perfectly happy with it at 9 years of age. Also knowing what is ahead in the following books, I can see the groundwork being laid for later surprises. Still Lloyd Alexander handles it deftly so that the surprises that are forthcoming stay surprises to a new reader.
As a high school teacher I found that this isn’t the best book to give to struggling readers or those who don’t “like” reading. As much as I feel they can relate to the characters, the use of Welsh names and places intimidates newer readers. Readers who are adept at context clues have no problem with the terms since they are clearly proper nouns if you know the clues.
One aspect that surprised me in this last reading was that I couldn’t blast through the book. I enjoyed and savored it plus it was written at a level where I had to think about things. So again I applaud Lloyd Alexander in constructing a tale that made me work a little but also made it so I wanted to read it until the end.